Indication of Multicast Control Information

ABSTRACT

A method for indicating a structure of control information for a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) is provided. The method comprises separating a multicast control channel (MCCH) of an MBMS transmission into a first portion and a second portion and arranging the separated MCCH into a structure wherein the first portion includes the second portion. The method further includes including in a downlink transmission an indicator to indicate the structure is used.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/938,000, filed Nov. 9, 2007, by Zhijun Cai, entitled“Indication of Multicast Control Information” which claims priority toU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/971,967, filed Sep. 13, 2007,by Zhijun Cai, entitled “Indication of Multicast Control Information”which are incorporated by reference herein as if reproduced in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND

In traditional wireless telecommunications systems, transmissionequipment in a base station transmits signals throughout a geographicalregion known as a cell. As technology has evolved, more advanced networkaccess equipment has been introduced that can provide services that werenot possible previously. This advanced network access equipment mightinclude, for example, an enhanced node B (ENB) rather than a basestation or other systems and devices that are more highly evolved thanthe equivalent equipment in a traditional wireless telecommunicationssystem. Such advanced or next generation equipment may be referred toherein as long-term evolution (LTE) equipment. For LTE equipment, theregion in which a wireless device can gain access to atelecommunications network might be referred to by a name other than“cell”, such as “hot spot”. As used herein, the term “cell” will be usedto refer to any region in which a wireless device can gain access to atelecommunications network, regardless of whether the wireless device isa traditional cellular device, an LTE device, or some other device.

Devices that might be used by users in a telecommunications network caninclude both mobile terminals, such as mobile telephones, personaldigital assistants, handheld computers, portable computers, laptopcomputers, tablet computers and similar devices, and fixed terminalssuch as residential gateways, televisions, set-top boxes and the like.Such devices will be referred to herein as user equipment or UE.

A group of LTE-based cells might be under the control of a single entityknown as a central control. The central control typically manages andcoordinates certain activities with a group of cells such as thescheduling of transmissions and the control of a modulation and codingscheme for the cells. The modulation and coding schemes might includebinary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK),quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), or other schemes that will befamiliar to one of skill in the art.

Services that might be provided by LTE-based equipment can includebroadcasts or multicasts of television programs, streaming video,streaming audio, and other multimedia content. Such services arecommonly referred to as multimedia broadcast multicast services (MBMS).An MBMS might be transmitted throughout a single cell or throughoutseveral contiguous or overlapping cells. A set of cells receiving anMBMS can be referred to as a service area. A service area and a regionunder the control of a central control do not necessarily coincide. Forexample, a central control might specify that a first subset of cellsunder its control will deliver a first MBMS and that a second subset ofcells under its control will deliver a second MBMS.

When multiple cells overlap, a UE within the overlapped region canreceive transmissions from multiple ENBs. It is well known in the artthat when a UE receives substantially identical data from a plurality ofENBs, the transmissions from the ENBs can augment one another to providea signal of significantly higher quality than would be the case if onlyone ENB were transmitting the signal. That is, a higher signal-to-noiseratio can be achieved when substantially the same data is transmitted atsubstantially the same time on substantially the same resource withsubstantially the same modulation and coding. A region in which aplurality of substantially identical signals are present is known as asingle frequency network, or SFN. In the case where all of the ENBs in aservice area are transmitting an MBMS with substantially identicalsignals, the service area can be referred to a multicast/broadcast SFN(MBSFN).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of this disclosure, reference is nowmade to the following brief description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings and detailed description, wherein like referencenumerals represent like parts.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a cellular network according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a cell in a cellular network according toan embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 a is a diagram of a structure for multicast control informationoperable for some of the various embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 b is a diagram of an alternative perspective of the structure ofFIG. 3 a operable for some of the various embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 a is a diagram of an alternative structure for multicast controlinformation operable for some of the various embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 4 b is a diagram of an alternative perspective of the structure ofFIG. 4 a operable for some of the various embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a method for indicating the structure of controlinformation for a multimedia broadcast multicast service according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a wireless communications system including userequipment operable for some of the various embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of user equipment operable for some of thevarious embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a software environment that may be implemented onuser equipment operable for some of the various embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 9 is an illustrative general purpose computer system suitable forsome of the various embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should be understood at the outset that although illustrativeimplementations of one or more embodiments of the present disclosure areprovided below, the disclosed systems and/or methods may be implementedusing any number of techniques, whether currently known or in existence.The disclosure should in no way be limited to the illustrativeimplementations, drawings, and techniques illustrated below, includingthe exemplary designs and implementations illustrated and describedherein, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claimsalong with their full scope of equivalents.

In an embodiment, a method is provided for indicating the structure ofcontrol information for a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS).The method comprises separating a multicast control channel (MCCH) of anMBMS transmission into a first portion and a second portion andarranging the separated MCCH into either a first structure wherein thefirst portion includes at least one pointer to a location of the secondstructure, or a second structure wherein the first portion directlyincludes the second portion. The method further includes including in adownlink transmission an indicator to indicate which of the firststructure and the second structure is used.

In another embodiment, a user equipment is provided that includes one ormore processors. The processors are configured to promote receiving amulticast control channel (MCCH) of a multimedia broadcast multicastservice (MBMS) transmission. The MCCH includes a first portion and asecond portion. The first portion has either a first structure whereinthe first portion includes at least one pointer to a location of thesecond structure or a second structure wherein the first portiondirectly includes the second portion. The processors are furtherconfigured to receive an indicator that indicates which of firststructure and the second structure is used.

In another embodiment, a system in a wireless telecommunications networkfor transmitting multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) controlinformation is provided. The system includes one or more processorsconfigured to promote transmission of a multicast control channel (MCCH)associated with a transmission of the MBMS. The MCCH includes a firstportion and a second portion. The first portion has either a firststructure wherein the first portion includes at least one pointer to alocation of the second structure or a second structure wherein the firstportion directly includes the second portion. The processor orprocessors are further configured to promote transmission of anindicator that indicates which of the first structure and the secondstructure is used.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary cellular network 100 according to anembodiment of the disclosure. The cellular network 100 may include aplurality of cells 102 ₁, 102 ₂, 102 ₃, 102 ₄, 102 ₅, 102 ₆, 102 ₇, 102₈, 102 ₉, 102 ₁₀, 102 ₁₁, 102 ₁₂, 102 ₁₃, and 102 ₁₄ (collectivelyreferred to as cells 102). As is apparent to persons of ordinary skillin the art, each of the cells 102 represents a coverage area forproviding cellular services of the cellular network 100. While the cells102 are depicted as having non-overlapping coverage areas, persons ofordinary skill in the art will recognize that one or more of the cells102 may have partially overlapping coverage with adjacent cells.Further, while a particular number of the cells 102 are depicted,persons of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that a larger orsmaller number of the cells 102 may be included in the cellular network100.

One or more UEs 10 may be present in each of the cells 102. Althoughonly one UE 10 is depicted and is shown in only one cell 102 ₁₂, it willbe apparent to one of skill in the art that a plurality of UEs 10 mightbe present in each of the cells 102. An ENB 20 in each of the cells 102performs functions similar to those of a traditional base station. Thatis, the ENBs 20 provide a radio link between the UEs 10 and othercomponents in a telecommunications network. While the ENB 20 is shownonly in cell 102 ₁₂, it should be understood that an ENB would bepresent in each of the cells 102. Also, radio links other than the ENBs20 could be used. A central control 110 oversees the wireless datatransmissions within the cells 102 by providing centralized managementand coordination for the cells 102 and their corresponding ENBs 20.

In the present disclosure, the cellular systems or cells 102 aredescribed as engaged in certain activities, such as transmittingsignals; however, as will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art,these activities would in fact be conducted by components comprising thecells. As an example, FIG. 2 depicts a more detailed view of the cell102 ₁₂. The ENB 20 in cell 102 ₁₂ can promote communication via atransmitter 27, a receiver 29, and/or other well known equipment.Similar equipment might be present in the other cells 102. A pluralityof UEs 10 are present in the cell 102 ₁₂, as might be the case in theother cells 102.

The transmission of an MBMS in one or more of the cells 102 can includetwo components, a multicast control channel (MCCH) and a multicasttraffic channel (MTCH). The MTCH delivers the actual content of the MBMSwhile the MCCH delivers control information related to the MBMS. TheMCCH might include key control information that specifies how thecontent in the MTCH is to be delivered. Configuration information forthe MCCH might be transmitted in a broadcast control channel (BCCH).Each of the cells 102 might transmit information over a BCCH to providethe UEs 10 with information about the MBMSs available in the cells 102and with other information. When one of the UEs 10 powers up, it canreceive the BCCH, read the MCCH configuration contained in the BCCH, anddetermine from the MCCH control information how to receive one or moreMTCHs.

In an embodiment, the MCCH control information is divided into twoportions: master control information and service control information.The master control information can also be referred to as primary MCCH(P-MCCH) information and the service control information can also bereferred to as secondary MCCH (S-MCCH) information. The S-MCCHinformation can include information about how an MTCH can be received.The P-MCCH information can directly include the S-MCCH information orcan include a pointer to a location where the S-MCCH information can beretrieved.

In an embodiment, the S-MCCH information includes control informationfor one or more MTCH transmissions. This might include schedulinginformation for one or more MTCHs, modulation and coding information forone or more MTCHs, and SFN-related parameters such as a blocked celllist. Since multiple MTCHs might be transmitted by a single ENB 20, anda different set of S-MCCH information might be needed for each MTCH,multiple sets of S-MCCH information might be associated with the BCCHtransmitted by the single ENB 20. A single set of P-MCCH informationmight be associated with the multiple sets of S-MCCH information.

In various embodiments, the P-MCCH information contains or points toscheduling information for the S-MCCH information. That is, the P-MCCHinformation specifies when and where the S-MCCH information isavailable. The UEs 10 can then use the scheduling information in theS-MCCH information to receive one or more MTCHs. The P-MCCH informationmay also contain service advertisement information, session startinformation, and modulation and coding information for the S-MCCHinformation. Service advertisement information might refer to whichMBMSs are available within an MBSFN and to similar information. Sessionstart information might refer to the counting information for MBMStransmissions and to similar information.

In the embodiments where multiple MTCHs are transmitted by a single ENB20, the P-MCCH information can point to scheduling information for eachof the sets of S-MCCH information associated with each of the MTCHs.That is, the sets of S-MCCH information that specify how the MTCHs canbe received might reside in various locations/resources in the downlinktransmissions, and the P-MCCH information can include pointers to theselocations/resources. One of the UEs 10 that wishes to receive aparticular MBMS can read the P-MCCH information, find the pointer forthe desired MBMS, go to the location/resources referred to by thepointer, retrieve the S-MCCH information at that location, and use theS-MCCH information to receive the MBMS. The pointer can remain the sameeven when the S-MCCH information that it points to changes.

FIG. 3 a illustrates such a structure 310 a for transmitting MCCHcontrol information. A BCCH 312 points to a set of P-MCCH information314. The P-MCCH information 314 contains pointers to the locations wherea plurality of sets of S-MCCH information 316 can be found. Each of thesets of S-MCCH information 316 contains service information for adifferent MTCH, each of which is associated with a different MBMS.

FIG. 3 b illustrates an alternative perspective of these embodiments. Inthis structure 310 b for transmitting MCCH control information, the BCCH312 can be viewed as containing, rather than pointing to, the P-MCCHinformation 314. As described above, the P-MCCH information 314 mightthen contain pointers to the locations where the plurality of sets ofS-MCCH information 316 can be found. The structures 310 a and 310 bshould be considered equivalent. They are depicted differently heremerely to illustrate two different viewpoints from which the P-MCCHinformation 314 and the sets of S-MCCH information 316 can be conceived.

In alternative embodiments, only a single set of S-MCCH information 316might be used. For example, if only a single MBMS is being transmittedby an ENB 20, only a single set of S-MCCH information 316 would betransmitted by that ENB 20. In such cases, pointers would not be neededand the S-MCCH information 316 could be carried directly within theP-MCCH information 314. One of the UEs 10 that wishes to receive thesingle MBMS can read the S-MCCH information 316 for the MBMS directlyfrom the P-MCCH information 314 rather than being directed to S-MCCHinformation 316 by a pointer. The UE 10 can then use the S-MCCHinformation 316 retrieved in this manner to receive the MBMS.

FIG. 4 a illustrates such a structure 320 a for transmitting MCCHcontrol information. The BCCH 312 points to the set of P-MCCHinformation 314, which includes within itself the single set of S-MCCHinformation 316. FIG. 4 b illustrates an alternative perspective of theembodiment of FIG. 4 a. In this structure 320 b, as in that of FIG. 3 b,the BCCH 312 can be viewed as containing, rather than pointing to, theP-MCCH information 314. As in FIG. 4 a, the P-MCCH information 314 mightthen contain within itself the single set of S-MCCH information 316. Aswith the structures 310 a and 310 b of FIGS. 3 a and 3 b, the structures320 a and 320 b of FIGS. 4 a and 4 b should be considered equivalent.They are depicted differently here to illustrate two complementaryviewpoints of the P-MCCH information 314 and the S-MCCH information 316.

In order to use the S-MCCH information 316, the UE 10 may need to knowwhether one of the structures 310 of FIGS. 3 a and 3 b or one of thestructures 320 of FIGS. 4 a and 4 b is being used. That is, the UE 10may need to know whether to find the S-MCCH information 316 directlywithin the P-MCCH information 314, as in one of the second structures320, or in a location pointed to by the P-MCCH information 314, as inone of the first structures 310.

In an embodiment, a signal sent to the UE 10 might include an indicationof whether the first structure 310 or the second structure 320 is beingused to transmit control information. The UE 10 can then use thisindication to determine where to find the S-MCCH information 316. Theindication might be included in the MBMS transmission or might beincluded in some other downlink transmission.

In one embodiment, a bit 350, or some other indicator, that indicateswhether the first structure 310 or the second structure 320 is beingused is included in the BCCH 312. A first value of the bit 350 mightindicate that the first structure 310 is being used and a second valueof the bit 350 might indicate that the second structure 320 is beingused. When the UE 10 receives the BCCH 312, the UE 10 can determine thevalue of this bit 350 and thereby determine whether to look directly inthe P-MCCH information 314 for the S-MCCH information 316 or to look inthe P-MCCH information 314 for a pointer to the S-MCCH information 316.

In another embodiment, the bit 350, or other indicator, might beincluded in the P-MCCH information 314, rather than in the BCCH 312. Afirst value of the bit 350 might indicate that the P-MCCH information314 points to the S-MCCH information 316 (as in FIGS. 3 a and 3 b) andthat the UE 10 should look in the P-MCCH information 314 for the pointerto the location of the S-MCCH information 316. A second value of the bit350 might indicate that the P-MCCH information 314 directly includes theS-MCCH information 316 (as in FIGS. 4 a and 4 b) and that the UE 10should look directly in the P-MCCH information 314 for the S-MCCHinformation 316.

While the bit 350 is shown in FIGS. 3 a, 3 b, 4 a, and 4 b in both theBCCH 312 and the P-MCCH 314, it should be understood that the bit 350would actually be located only in the BCCH 312 or only in the P-MCCH 314but not in both.

In either of these embodiments, the UE 10 might include appropriatehardware and/or software to receive the bit 350 and to interpret the bit350 appropriately in order to retrieve the S-MCCH information 316.

Other techniques for indicating whether the first structure 310 or thesecond structure 320 is being used might be employed. For example, inother embodiments, a channel other than the BCCH 312 or an informationset other than the P-MCCH information 314 could be used to carry the bit350 indicating which structure is being used. Also, in otherembodiments, an indicator other than the bit 350 could be used.

FIG. 5 illustrates a method 200 for indicating a structure of controlinformation for an MBMS. In block 210, the MCCH for an MBMS transmissionis separated into a first portion and a second portion. In block 220,the first portion is given one of two structures. In the firststructure, the first portion contains a pointer to the location of thesecond portion. In the second structure, the first portion directlycontains the second portion. In block 230, an indicator is provided thatindicates which of the two structures is being used.

FIG. 6 illustrates a wireless communications system including anembodiment of the UE 10. The UE 10 is operable for implementing aspectsof the disclosure, but the disclosure should not be limited to theseimplementations. Though illustrated as a mobile phone, the UE 10 maytake various forms including a wireless handset, a pager, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a tablet computer, or alaptop computer. Many suitable devices combine some or all of thesefunctions. In some embodiments of the disclosure, the UE 10 is not ageneral purpose computing device like a portable, laptop or tabletcomputer, but rather is a special-purpose communications device such asa mobile phone, a wireless handset, a pager, a PDA, or atelecommunications device installed in a vehicle. In another embodiment,the UE 10 may be a portable, laptop or other computing device. The UE 10may support specialized activities such as gaming, inventory control,job control, and/or task management functions, and so on.

The UE 10 includes a display 402. The UE 10 also includes atouch-sensitive surface, a keyboard or other input keys generallyreferred as 404 for input by a user. The keyboard may be a full orreduced alphanumeric keyboard such as QWERTY, Dvorak, AZERTY, andsequential types, or a traditional numeric keypad with alphabet lettersassociated with a telephone keypad. The input keys may include atrackwheel, an exit or escape key, a trackball, and other navigationalor functional keys, which may be inwardly depressed to provide furtherinput function. The UE 10 may present options for the user to select,controls for the user to actuate, and/or cursors or other indicators forthe user to direct.

The UE 10 may further accept data entry from the user, including numbersto dial or various parameter values for configuring the operation of theUE 10. The UE 10 may further execute one or more software or firmwareapplications in response to user commands. These applications mayconfigure the UE 10 to perform various customized functions in responseto user interaction. Additionally, the UE 10 may be programmed and/orconfigured over-the-air, for example from a wireless base station, awireless access point, or a peer UE 10.

Among the various applications executable by the UE 10 are a webbrowser, which enables the display 402 to show a web page. The web pagemay be obtained via wireless communications with a wireless networkaccess node, a cell tower, a peer UE 10, or any other wirelesscommunication network or system 400. The network 400 is coupled to awired network 408, such as the Internet. Via the wireless link and thewired network, the UE 10 has access to information on various servers,such as a server 410. The server 410 may provide content that may beshown on the display 402. Alternately, the UE 10 may access the network400 through a peer UE 10 acting as an intermediary, in a relay type orhop type of connection.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of the UE 10. While a variety of knowncomponents of UEs 10 are depicted, in an embodiment a subset of thelisted components and/or additional components not listed may beincluded in the UE 10. The UE 10 includes a digital signal processor(DSP) 502 and a memory 504. As shown, the UE 10 may further include anantenna and front end unit 506, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 508,an analog baseband processing unit 510, a microphone 512, an earpiecespeaker 514, a headset port 516, an input/output interface 518, aremovable memory card 520, a universal serial bus (USB) port 522, ashort range wireless communication sub-system 524, an alert 526, akeypad 528, a liquid crystal display (LCD), which may include a touchsensitive surface 530, an LCD controller 532, a charge-coupled device(CCD) camera 534, a camera controller 536, and a global positioningsystem (GPS) sensor 538. In an embodiment, the UE 10 may include anotherkind of display that does not provide a touch sensitive screen. In anembodiment, the DSP 502 may communicate directly with the memory 504without passing through the input/output interface 518.

The DSP 502 or some other form of controller or central processing unitoperates to control the various components of the UE 10 in accordancewith embedded software or firmware stored in memory 504 or stored inmemory contained within the DSP 502 itself. In addition to the embeddedsoftware or firmware, the DSP 502 may execute other applications storedin the memory 504 or made available via information carrier media suchas portable data storage media like the removable memory card 520 or viawired or wireless network communications. The application software maycomprise a compiled set of machine-readable instructions that configurethe DSP 502 to provide the desired functionality, or the applicationsoftware may be high-level software instructions to be processed by aninterpreter or compiler to indirectly configure the DSP 502.

The antenna and front end unit 506 may be provided to convert betweenwireless signals and electrical signals, enabling the UE 10 to send andreceive information from a cellular network or some other availablewireless communications network or from a peer UE 10. In an embodiment,the antenna and front end unit 506 may include multiple antennas tosupport beam forming and/or multiple input multiple output (MIMO)operations. As is known to those skilled in the art, MIMO operations mayprovide spatial diversity which can be used to overcome difficultchannel conditions and/or increase channel throughput. The antenna andfront end unit 506 may include antenna tuning and/or impedance matchingcomponents, RF power amplifiers, and/or low noise amplifiers.

The RF transceiver 508 provides frequency shifting, converting receivedRF signals to baseband and converting baseband transmit signals to RF.In some descriptions a radio transceiver or RF transceiver may beunderstood to include other signal processing functionality such asmodulation/demodulation, coding/decoding, interleaving/deinterleaving,spreading/despreading, inverse fast Fourier transforming (IFFT)/fastFourier transforming (FFT), cyclic prefix appending/removal, and othersignal processing functions. For the purposes of clarity, thedescription here separates the description of this signal processingfrom the RF and/or radio stage and conceptually allocates that signalprocessing to the analog baseband processing unit 510 and/or the DSP 502or other central processing unit. In some embodiments, the RFTransceiver 508, portions of the Antenna and Front End 506, and theanalog baseband processing unit 510 may be combined in one or moreprocessing units and/or application specific integrated circuits(ASICs).

The analog baseband processing unit 510 may provide various analogprocessing of inputs and outputs, for example analog processing ofinputs from the microphone 512 and the headset 516 and outputs to theearpiece 514 and the headset 516. To that end, the analog basebandprocessing unit 510 may have ports for connecting to the built-inmicrophone 512 and the earpiece speaker 514 that enable the UE 10 to beused as a cell phone. The analog baseband processing unit 510 mayfurther include a port for connecting to a headset or other hands-freemicrophone and speaker configuration. The analog baseband processingunit 510 may provide digital-to-analog conversion in one signaldirection and analog-to-digital conversion in the opposing signaldirection. In some embodiments, at least some of the functionality ofthe analog baseband processing unit 510 may be provided by digitalprocessing components, for example by the DSP 502 or by other centralprocessing units.

The DSP 502 may perform modulation/demodulation, coding/decoding,interleaving/deinterleaving, spreading/despreading, inverse fast Fouriertransforming (IFFT)/fast Fourier transforming (FFT), cyclic prefixappending/removal, and other signal processing functions associated withwireless communications. In an embodiment, for example in a codedivision multiple access (CDMA) technology application, for atransmitter function the DSP 502 may perform modulation, coding,interleaving, and spreading, and for a receiver function the DSP 502 mayperform despreading, deinterleaving, decoding, and demodulation. Inanother embodiment, for example in an orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplex access (OFDMA) technology application, for the transmitterfunction the DSP 502 may perform modulation, coding, interleaving,inverse fast Fourier transforming, and cyclic prefix appending, and fora receiver function the DSP 502 may perform cyclic prefix removal, fastFourier transforming, deinterleaving, decoding, and demodulation. Inother wireless technology applications, yet other signal processingfunctions and combinations of signal processing functions may beperformed by the DSP 502.

The DSP 502 may communicate with a wireless network via the analogbaseband processing unit 510. In some embodiments, the communication mayprovide Internet connectivity, enabling a user to gain access to contenton the Internet and to send and receive e-mail or text messages. Theinput/output interface 518 interconnects the DSP 502 and variousmemories and interfaces. The memory 504 and the removable memory card520 may provide software and data to configure the operation of the DSP502. Among the interfaces may be the USB interface 522 and the shortrange wireless communication sub-system 524. The USB interface 522 maybe used to charge the UE 10 and may also enable the UE 10 to function asa peripheral device to exchange information with a personal computer orother computer system. The short range wireless communication sub-system524 may include an infrared port, a Bluetooth interface, an IEEE 802.11compliant wireless interface, or any other short range wirelesscommunication sub-system, which may enable the UE 10 to communicatewirelessly with other nearby mobile devices and/or wireless basestations.

The input/output interface 518 may further connect the DSP 502 to thealert 526 that, when triggered, causes the UE 10 to provide a notice tothe user, for example, by ringing, playing a melody, or vibrating. Thealert 526 may serve as a mechanism for alerting the user to any ofvarious events such as an incoming call, a new text message, and anappointment reminder by silently vibrating, or by playing a specificpre-assigned melody for a particular caller.

The keypad 528 couples to the DSP 502 via the interface 518 to provideone mechanism for the user to make selections, enter information, andotherwise provide input to the UE 10. The keyboard 528 may be a full orreduced alphanumeric keyboard such as QWERTY, Dvorak, AZERTY andsequential types, or a traditional numeric keypad with alphabet lettersassociated with a telephone keypad. The input keys may include atrackwheel, an exit or escape key, a trackball, and other navigationalor functional keys, which may be inwardly depressed to provide furtherinput function. Another input mechanism may be the LCD 530, which mayinclude touch screen capability and also display text and/or graphics tothe user. The LCD controller 532 couples the DSP 502 to the LCD 530.

The CCD camera 534, if equipped, enables the UE 10 to take digitalpictures. The DSP 502 communicates with the CCD camera 534 via thecamera controller 536. In another embodiment, a camera operatingaccording to a technology other than Charge Coupled Device cameras maybe employed. The GPS sensor 538 is coupled to the DSP 502 to decodeglobal positioning system signals, thereby enabling the UE 10 todetermine its position. Various other peripherals may also be includedto provide additional functions, e.g., radio and television reception.

FIG. 8 illustrates a software environment 602 that may be implemented bythe DSP 502. The DSP 502 executes operating system drivers 604 thatprovide a platform from which the rest of the software operates. Theoperating system drivers 604 provide drivers for the wireless devicehardware with standardized interfaces that are accessible to applicationsoftware. The operating system drivers 604 include applicationmanagement services (“AMS”) 606 that transfer control betweenapplications running on the UE 10. Also shown in FIG. 8 are a webbrowser application 608, a media player application 610, and Javaapplets 612. The web browser application 608 configures the UE 10 tooperate as a web browser, allowing a user to enter information intoforms and select links to retrieve and view web pages. The media playerapplication 610 configures the UE 10 to retrieve and play audio oraudiovisual media. The Java applets 612 configure the UE 10 to providegames, utilities, and other functionality. A component 614 might providefunctionality related to control information transmission.

The UEs 10, ENBs 20, and central control 110 of FIG. 1 and othercomponents that might be associated with the cells 102 may include anygeneral-purpose computer with sufficient processing power, memoryresources, and network throughput capability to handle the necessaryworkload placed upon it. FIG. 9 illustrates a typical, general-purposecomputer system 700 that may be suitable for implementing one or moreembodiments disclosed herein. The computer system 700 includes aprocessor 720 (which may be referred to as a central processor unit orCPU) that is in communication with memory devices including secondarystorage 750, read only memory (ROM) 740, random access memory (RAM) 730,input/output (I/O) devices 710, and network connectivity devices 760.The processor may be implemented as one or more CPU chips.

The secondary storage 750 is typically comprised of one or more diskdrives or tape drives and is used for non-volatile storage of data andas an over-flow data storage device if RAM 730 is not large enough tohold all working data. Secondary storage 750 may be used to storeprograms which are loaded into RAM 730 when such programs are selectedfor execution. The ROM 740 is used to store instructions and perhapsdata which are read during program execution. ROM 740 is a non-volatilememory device which typically has a small memory capacity relative tothe larger memory capacity of secondary storage. The RAM 730 is used tostore volatile data and perhaps to store instructions. Access to bothROM 740 and RAM 730 is typically faster than to secondary storage 750.

I/O devices 710 may include printers, video monitors, liquid crystaldisplays (LCDs), touch screen displays, keyboards, keypads, switches,dials, mice, track balls, voice recognizers, card readers, paper tapereaders, or other well-known input devices.

The network connectivity devices 760 may take the form of modems, modembanks, ethernet cards, universal serial bus (USB) interface cards,serial interfaces, token ring cards, fiber distributed data interface(FDDI) cards, wireless local area network (WLAN) cards, radiotransceiver cards such as code division multiple access (CDMA) and/orglobal system for mobile communications (GSM) radio transceiver cards,and other well-known network devices. These network connectivity 760devices may enable the processor 720 to communicate with an Internet orone or more intranets. With such a network connection, it iscontemplated that the processor 720 might receive information from thenetwork, or might output information to the network in the course ofperforming the above-described method steps. Such information, which isoften represented as a sequence of instructions to be executed usingprocessor 720, may be received from and outputted to the network, forexample, in the form of a computer data signal embodied in a carrierwave.

Such information, which may include data or instructions to be executedusing processor 720 for example, may be received from and outputted tothe network, for example, in the form of a computer data baseband signalor signal embodied in a carrier wave. The baseband signal or signalembodied in the carrier wave generated by the network connectivity 760devices may propagate in or on the surface of electrical conductors, incoaxial cables, in waveguides, in optical media, for example opticalfiber, or in the air or free space. The information contained in thebaseband signal or signal embedded in the carrier wave may be orderedaccording to different sequences, as may be desirable for eitherprocessing or generating the information or transmitting or receivingthe information. The baseband signal or signal embedded in the carrierwave, or other types of signals currently used or hereafter developed,referred to herein as the transmission medium, may be generatedaccording to several methods well known to one skilled in the art.

The processor 720 executes instructions, codes, computer programs,scripts which it accesses from hard disk, floppy disk, optical disk(these various disk-based systems may all be considered secondarystorage 750), ROM 740, RAM 730, or the network connectivity devices 760.While only one processor 720 is shown, multiple processors may bepresent. Thus, while instructions may be discussed as executed by aprocessor, the instructions may be executed simultaneously, serially, orotherwise executed by one or multiple processors.

While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure,it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods may beembodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spiritor scope of the present disclosure. The present examples are to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is notto be limited to the details given herein. For example, the variouselements or components may be combined or integrated in another systemor certain features may be omitted, or not implemented.

Also, techniques, systems, subsystems and methods described andillustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may becombined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, ormethods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.Other items shown or discussed as coupled or directly coupled orcommunicating with each other may be indirectly coupled or communicatingthrough some interface, device, or intermediate component, whetherelectrically, mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples of changes,substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in theart and could be made without departing from the spirit and scopedisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: separating by a networkaccess equipment a multicast control channel (MCCH) of an multimediabroadcast multicast service (MBMS) transmission into a first portion anda second portion and arranging the separated MCCH into a structurewherein the first portion directly includes the second portion, andincluding in a downlink transmission an indicator to indicate that thestructure is used.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the structure isused when the MBMS is one of a plurality of MBMSs being transmitted by aparticular transmitting component.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein thestructure is used when the MBMS is the only MBMS being transmitted by aparticular transmitting component.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein thefirst portion further includes at least one of: service advertisementinformation for the MBMS; session start information for the MBMS; andmodulation and coding information for the second portion.
 5. The methodof claim 1, wherein the second portion contains at least one of:scheduling information for at least one multicast traffic channel (MTCH)portion of the MBMS transmission; modulation and coding information forat least one MTCH portion of the MBMS transmission; and a blocked celllist.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicator is included in abroadcast control channel.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein theindicator is included in the first portion of the MCCH.
 8. A userequipment, comprising: one or more processors configured to receive amulticast control channel (MCCH) of a multimedia broadcast multicastservice (MBMS) transmission, the MCCH comprising a first portion and asecond portion, the first portion having a structure wherein the firstportion directly includes the second portion, and further configured toreceive an indicator that indicates the structure is used.
 9. The userequipment of claim 8, wherein the first portion further includes atleast one of: service advertisement information for the MBMS; sessionstart information for the MBMS; and modulation and coding informationfor the second portion.
 10. The user equipment of claim 8, wherein thesecond portion contains at least one of: scheduling information for atleast one multicast traffic channel (MTCH) portion of the MBMStransmission; modulation and coding information for at least one MTCHportion of the MBMS transmission; and a blocked cell list.
 11. The userequipment of claim 8, wherein the structure is used when the MBMS is oneof a plurality of MBMSs being transmitted by a particular transmittingcomponent.
 12. The user equipment of claim 8, wherein the structure isused when the MBMS is the only MBMS being transmitted by a particulartransmitting component.
 13. The user equipment of claim 8, wherein theindicator is included in one of: a broadcast control channel; and thefirst portion of the MCCH.
 14. A network access equipment in a wirelesstelecommunications network for transmitting multimedia broadcastmulticast service (MBMS) control information, comprising: one or moreprocessors configured to promote transmission of a multicast controlchannel (MCCH) associated with a transmission of the MBMS, the MCCHcomprising a first portion and a second portion, the first portionhaving a structure wherein the first portion includes the secondportion, the one or more processors configured to promote transmissionof an indicator to indicate the structure is used.
 15. The networkaccess equipment of claim 14, wherein the structure is used when theMBMS is one of a plurality of MBMSs being transmitted by the networkaccess equipment.
 16. The network access equipment of claim 14, whereinthe structure is used when the MBMS is the only MBMS being transmittedby the network access equipment.
 17. The network access equipment ofclaim 14, wherein the first portion further includes at least one of:service advertisement information for the MBMS; session startinformation for the MBMS; and modulation and coding information for thesecond portion.
 18. The network access equipment of claim 14, whereinthe second portion contains at least one of: scheduling information forat least one multicast traffic channel (MTCH) portion of the MBMStransmission; modulation and coding information for at least one MTCHportion of the MBMS transmission; and a blocked cell list.
 19. Thenetwork access equipment of claim 14, wherein the indicator is includedin one of: a broadcast control channel; and the first portion of theMCCH.
 20. The network access equipment of claim 14, wherein the networkaccess equipment is an enhanced node B.